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The
Malawi mission has
been a large part of the church's mission since 2000 when Dr. George and
Betty Poehlman hosted our first team to visit
Embangweni. Bill and Beth Rule were a
part of that team as were our pastor at the time, Rev. John Lown, and his
wife, Toya O'Hora. Shirley Pearson and Louise Brown also went. Following
that experience, the church developed a partnership with Loudon Presbytery
at Embangweni, with the Loudon Full
Primary School and
Embangweni Hospital. The church worked with the congregation at
Kalikumbi (a rural site near the Zambian border) to provide roofs for
several prayer houses in the area. They also helped to build the first grain
bank in the area at Embangweni. In 2001 they hosted the headmaster of the
primary school for one month. He visited several schools in Loudoun, VA
including Balls Bluff, Evergreen Mill, and others. He spoke at LPC and at
St. Andrew in Purcellville. The name
Leesburg Presbyterian Church
is well known at Embangweni.
Bill & Beth Rule |
Embangweni Church
Sanctuary (built 1903) |
Bill and Beth felt the call to work
at Embangweni, Loudon Station,
after Bill's retirement in Jan. 2003. Bill worked as Hospital Administrator for
6 months and has since served as financial advisor to all of the schools and
hospital on the station. Beth served as a nurse and an AIDS consultant helping
to set up and manage the AIDS Antiretroviral (ARV) drug program at the hospital.
Bill has also served as information systems consultant. Loudoun Public Schools
have donated 100 computers over the 5 year period of our partnership (Loudoun to
Loudon). There are computer labs in the primary school, school for deaf
children, and two secondary schools which Bill has set up and is still working
to train others to keep up. The hospital has several computers which are now
networked and have e-mail capability through a HAM radio program for mission
sites. Malawi has very few resources, very poor soil for food production and has
been stuck in profound poverty that seems to be unresolvable. They are the 8th
poorest country in the world. But they have a very peaceful and wonderful people
who are really their biggest resource. Our hope is that they can join the
information world and use the knowledge and resourcefulness of their people to
improve their economy.
Bill and Beth hope that the
partnership with Loudon Station will continue and that others will visit and
learn about the culture and work of the
Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) there. The
Synod of Livingstonia is always
willing to host partners from PC-USA
churches, Church of Scotland,
and Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
We have found Malawi to have great influence from Church of Scotland as the
mission was founded by David Livingstone. The church at Embangweni is 102 years
old. Support from the United Kingdom churches has decreased in recent years and
PCUSA support is greatly needed.
Latest News
April 2007
- Don’t just leave it to someone else!
 |
This is your chance to see a bit of Africa and also represent Leesburg
Presbyterian Church at the dedication of the new Integrated Preventive Health
Services Building at Embangweni. There will also be opportunities to visit the
community of Luvwere where the church is considering a partnership, to go out on
a mobile clinic (no medical background required), to teach a short class in one
of the schools (computers or otherwise), to see the grain banks and other
mission activities, to visit John and Florence Gondwe at Kalikumbi, and to go on
a game park safari or relax on the shores of beautiful Lake Malawi. |
Bill and Beth Rule will be leading a group to Malawi this summer and you could
(should!) be one of our members in attendance. This group is planning to depart
on August 20th for a three week visit. To gain (and give) the
most from the experience, you should probably plan on spending about three weeks
but the schedule can be flexible to accommodate different peoples’ needs.
Estimated cost of round trip airfare is about $1,700 and daily living expenses
will run about $10-$15. Four days at a game park would be about $500 and, of
course, there will be other miscellaneous travel expenses, including an
overnight in Johannesburg and possibly one or two in Lilongwe.
We will be holding meetings for those who may be interested, in order to answer
questions and begin to work out details according to the potential participant’s
needs and interests. In the meantime, please let the Church office know if you
are possibly interested (enough to pursue your questions further) so that we
know who to contact about arrangements for the meeting. No commitments are
needed or wanted at this time—we just need to know if you are considering it. If
you have general questions that you need answers to before you can register your
level of interest, you can contact Bill and Beth directly at
brule@lpcva.org or on
410-228-1261.
Now, don’t say we didn’t give you fair warning!
June 2006
-
Many of you are aware of and many have contributed to the
construction of a new Integrated Preventive Health Services
Building at Embangweni Hospital. The need for this
facility became evident when it was realized that current
preventive health services (Antenatal, Family Planning,
Under-Fives, Immunizations, STD, TB, etc.) were so scattered
around the hospital campus that they were literally loosing
patients in the shuffle back and forth to various points. The
need then became an urgent imperative as interventions in the
HIV/AIDS epidemic grew and grew: first the educational efforts
and the Prevention of Transmission from Mother to Child Program
and then the Anti-Retroviral (ARV) Program.
With most, but not all, of the required funds raised,
construction was begun toward the end of 2005 on faith that the
remainder would come in time. We are fortunate now to have
a photographic update on the progress to date on this project,
courtesy of Bill Perkins and a group that visited Embangweni
from Lynchburg, VA in June of this year. We have put a few of
these pictures together, available in the PDF file shown below.
This is both a report and a "thank you" to those who have
participated so far, as well as an alert to any and all who
might have an opportunity to "spread the word" among any who may
yet wish to contribute toward final completion.
|
Embangweni Hospital Building Progress
(~4.4 Mb) |
Please use the presentation in any way that you feel is useful,
feel free to share it with any whose email addresses we did not
have or were overlooked for whatever reason, and please enjoy
the "bird's eye" views of the Embangweni Hospital campus that we
have for the first time, as a result of the new radio tower that
Bill installed for email purposes during his visit.
Grace and Peace to all of you!
--Bill and Beth Rule
June 2006
- As part of LPC's mission to Malawi, the Mission & Witness Committee authorized
a donation from the church to Mr. Godwin Jere to cover one month of
living expenses while he is completing his graduate studies in
Scotland. Mr. Jere is headmaster of the primary school there,
which has been a model for the entire country of Malawi. His
studies would not be possible without donations such as this.
A letter received from Mr. Godwin Jere to the LPC Mission & Witness
committee is:
I would like to
inform you that I received your $700 cheque which you sent
to help me with my educational studies here in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Please accept my
sincere vote of thanks for the gift which really came at the
right time when I needed it for the University accommodation
costs. This is the second time Leesburg Presbyterian
Church has donated towards my education here in the UK.
Convey my thanks to all members of the committee and the
Church for the kindness chosen to me. It is a great
lesson to me that when I return to Malawi, I should have the
same type of heart of giving, especially to the needy.
Yours in Christ,
Godwin Nemoni Jere
| |
 March 2006
- Rev. Gondwe, Moderator of Loudon Presbytery at Embangweni
(Malawi, Africa) and the Pastor for the Kalikumbi
congregation, and his wife, Florence worshipped with our
congregation in Leesburg, VA. Rev. Gondwe delivered
the message at both services and a reception for them was
held at the coffee hour after each service. Florence is one
of the rare women college graduates. It was a pleasure
and an honor to have them worship with us.
Click HERE to see
pictures of their visit |
August 2005
- Former LPC member, Susan Mulholland, is heading a team of six members from her
Monocacy Valley Church for a two-week work commitment on Loudon Station in
Embangweni. Nurses, teachers and computer technicians are going with seven
full action packers in addition to their own luggage. Susan will be taking
a check to Bill Rule for $7,415 from LPC for the grain bank project. The
Mission and Witness Committee thanks all who answered the appeal July 10th with
paid pledges for this project to ward off the predicated upcoming starvation of
the Embangweni people due to a crop failure because of very heavy rains in the
past growing seasons. Pray for Susan and her team. Pray for the
people of Embangweni.
July 2005
- Beth and Bill Rule report that in the near future, the people of Malawi will
experience a shortage of maize, their food staple, and the prices will increase
substantially. An effort is being made to stockpile whatever maize is
available at current prices. This is good business and there is Biblical
precedent. Do you remember Joseph in Egypt? Funds are needed to help
with the purchase of available grain for future needs. If you would like
to assist with a financial gift, please speak with our Mission and Witness
elders, Kathy Brown or Louise Brown. The bull text of Bill's letter is
posted on several of our bulletin boards.
Additional Links:
http://embangweni.com/loudon.htm
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/rulew.htm
Letters from Bill & Beth Rule:
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